Dragoon: Solo/Duo Guide by Maevedarkphoenix
Introduction Hello, and welcome to the unoffical DRG solo and duo guide! This guide is meant to show the awesome availablity in more solitary playing involved with DRG!. In this guide I will cover: :*What makes it possible. ::* I get many questions from beginner DRGs and even high level other jobs on the art of DRG soloing and duoing. I will do my best to answer questions I commonly get. :*DRG soloing EXP and NMs. ::*subs and solo EXP places included. :*DRG duo EXP and NMs. ::*subs, EXP areas, and what other jobs to try it with included. :*DRGs in trio for NMs. ::*you guessed it, subs, areas, and what jobs. :*Lastly, tons of misspelled words and misinterpreted information. Enjoy! ---- It may seem basic, but there are many questions, uncertainties, and guidelines people involved with smaller groups involving DRG will need to go over. Reminder: Not I, nor anyone else, can guarantee your safety with ANYTHING involved with DRG soloing, duoing, or even trioing. This process can be a very tricky to explain and describe, even from a solo/duo/trio master like myself. ---- What makes it possible The wondrous question comes up: How the heck do DRGs solo and duo that well? We are just a normal Damage Dealer correct? No shadows to hide behind to protect us, bad DEF, low evasion, so.. what supports us? The answer is simple! See that flying blue thing over there? Yeah, only noticed him when he was in your way when you were trying to SATA right? He does more then you think. The flying blue thing, a.k.a.: Wyvern, is a very powerful...healer. Yes, Healer. Here is how the wyvern heals: :*The wyvern will execute a Healing Breath at either 25%-HP or 33%- HP (33%-HP or 50%-HP with the Drachen Armet or Drachen Armet +1 equipped) when the DRG executes a spell at this HP or under (Dia is the most common spell used to trigger Healing Breath for its quick casting and low MP cost). There are 3 tiers of Healing Breath. ::*Well, sadly, you can't just have any sub to get this to work. Melee subs: WAR, MNK, THF, COR, PUP, BST, SAM, RNG, and DNC will not activate Healing Breaths. ::*PLD, NIN, DRK, BRD, WHM, RDM, BLU, and BLM, WILL activate Healing Breaths. :::* PLD, NIN, DRK, and BRD subs will only have the wyvern trigger Healing Breath at 25% HP, but Elemental Breaths are available, too. WHM, RDM, BLU, BLM, and SCH Will trigger Healing Breath at 33% HP and are also able to heal other party members if they are under 33% HP. ;;* Important Note: SMN will trigger -EN from your Wyvern, to remove status ailments, but your Wyvern CANNOT do Healing Breath. :*The Healing Breath trigger is not only affected by the sub, but by equipment. The level 60 artifact piece Drachen Armet will change when a wyvern triggers the Healing Breath. ::*With Drachen Armet or Drachen Armet +1, Healing Breath will trigger at 33% HP with DRK, PLD, BRD, and NIN subs instead of the previous 25% HP. ::* Likewise, Healing Breath will trigger at 50% HP for WHM, RDM, BLU, BLM, and SCH instead of 33% HP. Now in this guide, I will assume the DRG has a Drachen Armet, because I didn't take up soloing, duo, or trio, until 60+, giving me no right to talk about what I don't know. ---- A deeper look at the sub jobs for soloing Now that we know what the subs can do, Let's look at all of them. :*Dark Knight: Well, now we have attack abilities, and Healing Breath triggers at 33%! Great! On the contrary, regarding soloing, this sub is not very good. This is why: Low MP, DRK does not have the biggest MP pool. Secondly, Your defense will be low. DRGs do not have high defense especially with all the minus defense stuff most of us wear (Sniper's Rings and whatnot). DRK has crappy defense. 33% HP threshold also, in many scenarios, will get you killed. The Monster will Weapon Skill and tear you to pieces. DRK COULD be good, but likely, you will die a lot, and that's not good soloing. :*Paladin: Increased defense, Healing Breath triggers at 33%, emergency Defense boosting ablities. Auto Refresh. Decent STR, yes, PLD has decent STR. This sub sounds a tad better then previously mentioned drk, right? Well, no sarcasm, it is. ALTHOUGH, this hardly makes it better. Once again, low mp pool (Auto Refresh makes up for that somewhat) and Healing Breath triggers at 33%. No good spells to use for Healing Breath triggers. This makes it somewhat dangerous, resulting in a most likely many deaths. :*Bard: In my opinion, BRD shouldn't even be considered. Sure, you have an unlimited amount of spells, but long casting time on those spells, can only have 1 buff, and no attack or defense bonus. Once again, Healing Breath triggers at 33% on top of long casting time. That, is very dangerous. If you like your Experience Points, don't use BRD. (NOTE: Requiem, Threnody, and Lullaby are all relatively fast casting compared to slow, traditional buffing songs, and are also uninterruptable.) :*Ninja: OMG! Ninja!! 1337!! /bow!!! Okay, not really. NIN can be decent, but there's better. Nin gives increased DEX for Penta Thrust mods. Okay, I guess. Before 74, this sub is not good at all though. I'm sorry NINs, you have crappy defense, too. Healing Breath once again triggers at 33%, which is dangerous. There are spells that cast fast, though. You also have shadows. This sub is passable at 74 (with Utsusemi: Ni), but many people will prefer a different sub than this one anyway. :*White Mage: WHM is a very good sub. No sarcasm. You have lowered defense and attack, but that's okay. Why? Healing Breath triggers at 50% HP. WHM gives you a spell Dia to trigger Healing Breaths, which is 7 MP, fast casting, and an easy to use spell. WHM also adds the benefits of Stoneskin, Blink, and Aquaveil early on. Divine Seal can be a life saver in some situations, too. Large MP pool on top of this all. WHM also adds auto-regen. :*Red Mage: RDM is also a very good sub. Tad higher defense and attack than the WHM sub, Healing Breath also triggers at 50% HP. RDM gives you Fast Cast which is helpful for getting spells off quickly. Reduced casting time and recast time. You even get Fast Cast II at level 70! This, on top of the extremely low mp cost and quick casting of poison, makes RDM an especially ideal sub for fast hitting monsters. Phalanx, Stoneskin, Blink, and Aquaveil are all available to RDM sub also. The one problem with RDM sub is lowered MP pool. :*Blue Mage: BLU has tons of potential, too. There are many many combinations you can use to adjust to specific situations. There are quick spells that you can use to trigger Healing Breaths, and you have the same MP pool as RDM. A person who works hard on BLU can make it a great sub. BLU also triggers Healing Breath at 50% HP. :*Black Mage: BLM is good too, no joke. On certain mobs you can cast spells such as Choke and Drown to lower stats and slowly decrease the enemy's HP. You have a large MP pool available to you, and like RDM you have the spell Poison available for fast casting. Aspir makes this sub even better. BLM like the last 3 subs triggers Healing Breath at 50% HP. ---- DRG EXP solo DRG solo is fun and rewarding. Getting the hang of it can be the tricky part, though. Now that you know how the subs work, here are points listed that you will want to consider for EXP solo. :*What level the monsters are. ::*Beginners (This means level 60s that have never practiced soloing without Drachen Armet before) will want to start off with Decent Challenge and Even Match monsters, so they will not die, or at least not too much. :::*More advanced soloers can take and chain Even Match to Very Tough monsters. :*The type of Monster you will level off of. ::* Does it hit hard and slow? Does it hit fast and weak? Will you need to kill it fast before it kills you? Or will it be more of endurance battles? Consider this and many more points in this topic. :*Always have Refresh drinks in your inventory available in case you end up in a sticky situation and need an extra kick. :*Good places to begin soloing at level 60-65 include Crawler's Nest off of Helm Beetles, King Ranperre's Tomb off of Dire Bats, and Kuftal Tunnel off of Robber Crabs. :*It's a pretty good idea to go against things weak to Piercing weapons, such as the Dire Bat. :*Avoid fighting monsters with AoE attacks/sleep. Your wyvern needs to be awake and alive to be of any use. :*Final, but Foremost, don't be stupid. Be well prepared, and be ready to take on most situations. If you don't want to die, carry an Instant Warp. In most soloing situations, if you die, it's probably your fault. Learn from your mistakes and keep trying. :*No one can tell you how to solo. It's your style, do whatever works out for you. DRG is a very versatitile job in this matter, all I or anyone can do, is offer advice. Consider these points and take your chances. ---- DRG in EXP and NM duos In my opinion, Duo is where most of the fun is. There are many, many possibilities in DRG duo, and versatility is just the beginning. Here's another cool thing about DRG Duo, the Wyvern will use Healing Breath on Party members too! Same HP rules apply to party members as same as the DRG. In some scenarios that the DRG may be below 50% with WHM sub and the DRG's party member is also under 50% HP, the wyvern will use Healing Breath on the DRG first. You cannot control what the Wyvern heals if all party members are under 50% HP. Deeper look at subs in DRG duo ::*Please see the "A deeper look at the sub jobs for soloing" section for basics. This section will only detail the sub jobs a bit more for duos. :*Dark Knight: DRK could be a good sub if you're not the job being hit, but remember, 33% HP is a little low especially for duo, where you will be seeing higher level mobs that hit harder. Because of this reason, I would personally not recommend this sub. :*Paladin: PLD also, could be a good sub if you're the risky type and are the one getting hit. Once again 33% HP is a little low for the monsters you'll be facing. :*Bard: Buffs can affect party, but see above subs: 33% hp is not good. Neither is long casting time. :*Ninja: In a duo at 74 with either another job with ninja subbed or a ninja themselves, this sub could be excellent if you both knew what you were doing. Time things right and both learn to balance hate so it can turn at either time, and this sub could work out extremely well. :*White Mage: With this sub, you get bar- (spells such as Barwatera) AoE spells for more protection, high MP to support you and your duoing partner for a long time, and Divine Seal. :*Red Mage: Good self buffs if you and your duoing partner decide to bounce hate, or if you pull hate by accident. With MP increasing items this sub can hold out a while, and can cast fast for quickly saving you and your partner. :*Blue Mage: See above. Excellent sub if you work hard and get all blue magic. See Blue Magic chart for yourself. :*Black Mage: If your partner is the tank, this sub is excellent. Large MP pool to last a long time, on top of Poison for 5 MP and once again, fast casting to get Healing Breaths off. :*Drg Duo: My Opinion: On Titan Me (Stealthwolf) and Urges duoed DRG's to 75 in the upper levels using Altepa as our main camp as we didn't overly enjoy Whitegate. We found that partys commonly sat killing Colbri that you are looking for plus with the book in Altepa you are looking at easy Exp and money. We used the combination of /Blu and me on /Dnc this worked well untill we started getting hit hard. After i hit lv75 with my Drg i researched into gear sets and better subjob combo's and discovered the joy of subing blu and the awesome power of subing Sam. If in a duo or trio situation i tend to use /blu for the quick spell casting of spells like foot kick, head butt and power attack. But when your looking for pure power in a party situation please please don't go /War its a waste, Sam is a much better option because of the ridicules Tp build you can obtain. I'm not saying i know everything i'm just saying my two cents worth. A look at the jobs your duoing partners can be :*Warrior: At level 74 with Ninja sub, this job has alot of potential. Good DD, shadows, and high enmity to tank. The only problem is, either way, WAR is probably going to take alot of damage regardless of shadows, because of low evasion. :*Monk: A monk can do really well, even without NIN sub. Counters and Counterstance can really help them not take much damage. With WAR sub they have Defender and Dodge, and still do great damage. Even though a MNK may not have NIN sub, I don't recommend duoing with one til 70+ anyways. EDIT: With the introduction of DNC, MNKs after level 30 will have curing waltz making a MNK very capable of keeping their health capped off and still doing pretty ample damage. :*Thief: If a THF can keep hate, at 74 a DRG and THF can make an excellent duo if the THF has NIN sub. THFs have high evasion, and won't take much damage. :*White Mage: A duo with a WHM would be difficult. Even if you told them not to heal you until you ran out of MP, you'd probably not have enough hate to hold it off the WHM. :*Black Mage: Almost the same as WHM. It's going to be difficult to hold anything off a BLM, and theyre more frail then the DRG. One possible approach is to follow the BLM solo guides going after pets. The DRG pulls and starts the fight, while the BLM finishes it with AM. :*Red Mage: If the RDM and DRG work hard, this Duo can work well. The RDM can sub NIN and hide themselves from attacks, while the DRG can be main healer, and RDM can Refresh both DRG and themselves, while casting Enfeebling Magic. :*Bard: This Duo wouldn't be too bad. DRG does damage while BRD can buff them and melee himself. DRG can do good healing and BRD can ballad only when DRG gets about halfway through with MP. :*Beastmaster: BSTs can duo well with nearly anything, let's face it. Really, though, this can work out fine. Have BST's pet tank and do damage yourself. You have back up MP if you get hate. (Note: See discussion page) :*Blue Mage: This, mostly, depends on skill and effort, and on the BLU. Talk it over and review other stratedgies, and you'll do well if the BLU has full spells. :*Corsair: Joining your DRG will actually open up more options for the COR. Your partner can provide an evasion bonus at level 8 and accuracy at 11. At 23, the COR learns Puppet Roll (+acc for wyvern), the first of three abilities that enhance pet abilities. COR also gains Beast Roll (+atk for wyvern) at 34 and Drachen Roll (+matk, +macc for wyvern) at 52. :*Puppetmaster: With the puppetmaster using the stormwaker or Soulsoother (40+)head, this duo is very effective. Toughs and Very tough mobs can be taken and chained. By making the puppetmaster the tank with sub warrior and using the puppet and wyvern to heal, this duo is very effective as the various roles are covered nicely. The only lacking part is high damage but between the Dragoon and Puppetmaster plus the pets there is enough DoT to bring mobs down at a decent pace. This duo only gets easier as time goes on and when the Dragoon has access to 50% health cures and the Puppet has access to Cure V it is a very safe and rewarding duo. :*Dark Knight: DRK and DRG duo is not good because both of you will take way too much damage, and this Duo does not have anything above the others. :*Dragoon: Double DRGs is awesome. Tons of Healing Breaths, good damage, and an easy time bouncing hate. A prefered duo by many, this can excel at a lot. :*Ninja: NIN is almost ideal. They can sub WAR and tank easily, and have shadows and high evasion to take barely any damage, and can enfeeble well. They do decent damage, and compromise well with the DRG. The one downside is you can't make Light skillchains, and can't make Darkness until the DRG gets Impulse Drive. :*Paladin: PLD is much like NIN except they take damage, but can heal themselves too. Duoing with a PLD will be close to that of a NIN, but slightly not as good. :*Ranger: Ranger will be much like a DRK and DRG duo except slightly better. RNG can do alot of damage, take alot of damage, luckily, thats where the wyvern comes in. Keep MP up and this duo will be okay. :*Samurai: A SAM DRG duo can work out very well. SAMs can have decent defense and do great damage, once again DRGs keep the SAMs alive. While doing decent damage themselves. EDIT: With the introduction of DNC, SAMs after level 30 will have curing waltz and coupled with a SAMs ability to build up a lot of TP, keeping themselves alive while still pulling off a lot of WSs should be easy. :*Summoner: Duoing with a SMN will be like duoing with a BST. SMN's pet takes hate and you heal when smn gets hate and try to pull it off so they can recall. This could work out well if the SMN knows hate control. ---- Conclusion If you have read this far, you now know, the DRG is very powerful and versatile in the right hands. This whole time I've been telling you my recommendations but now this is my biggest piece of advice: :*Be okay with death. Get up and try again, the only way you will get better is by accepting defeat. Never give up--even though that's corny, it's also true. ---- Updates 8/15: Guide added and started. Planning for more information on the partners in duo, stratedgies, and trioing oppertunities.